Search

The 'Holy Grail' for job-seekers: Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers for 2018 are announced

TORONTO, April 13, 2018 /CNW/ - For many Canadians, working at a smaller employer is thought to mean giving up the kind of benefits and security that usually come with a job at a larger organization. Not so, say the winners of this year's Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers, announced this morning by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers at Mediacorp Canada Inc. Not only is it possible to have the best of both worlds, but some SMEs are leading the way, combining the entrepreneurial feel of working at a small organization with the kinds of perks and benefits once available only at larger employers.

"For most working Canadians, it's really like finding the Holy Grail," says Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project at Mediacorp Canada Inc. "These employers offer fun, interesting, engaged workplaces where you can still get benefits like good maternity top-up or a decent retirement savings plan. It's an attractive combination for employees looking for the best of both worlds."

"This year, we've seen tremendous growth at many of the SME winners," says Anthony Meehan, Publisher at Mediacorp. "It's not uncommon to see year-over-year employment growth of 50% at some of the winners, providing excellent advancement opportunities for staff. It's one of the reasons that small and medium employers have created more than 90% of the private-sector jobs in the past decade."

Now in its 5th year, Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers is an editorial competition that recognizes the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with the nation's best workplaces and forward-thinking human resources policies. Employers were evaluated by the editors at Canada's Top 100 Employers using the same criteria as the national competition: (1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere & Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training & Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement. Employers are compared to other organizations in their industry to determine which offer the most progressive and forward-thinking programs. The annual competition is open to any employer with a place of business in Canada. Employers must have less than 500 employees worldwide, including employees at affiliates, and be a commercial, for-profit enterprise.

Here are some of the more interesting initiatives noted this year by the editors:

Vancouver-based software developer ACL Services offers a dynamic workplace culture, with regular summer barbecues and "BYOMs Thursdays" (bring your own items to grill) to employee-led "#disruptive-creativity" classes to help employees get to know each other.

Edmonton-based homebuilder Rohit Group of Companies hosts an annual company "Rotreat", pausing operations for three days and journeying to a five-star resort in the BC interior for activities that include snowshoeing, bowling, a games lounge and karaoke.

Video game developer Big Viking Games, based in London, Ontario, encourages employees to recognize co-workers' successes through "Vikoins" – tokens awarded to peers for excellent work – which can be used to buy premium snacks and drinks from the kitchen, offsite events, or even items from the onsite Viking store.

Located in Toronto's trendy Leslieville area, accounting software developer Wave offers a great workspace with an employee lounge featuring video games, foosball, free snacks, sparkling water on tap and a beer fridge – there are even onsite massages and instructor-led yoga/pilates classes offered.

Toronto-based video game developer Uken Studios offers generous maternity and parental leave top-up payments for new moms and dads, including adoptive parents – to 100% of salary for up to 17 weeks – with flexible work hours and telecommuting work options to help employees balance their lives outside work.

Retail software developer Thinkwrap Commerce, based in Kanata, Ontario, builds an ownership culture among employees through a share purchase plan and offers a variety of financial incentives, including year-end bonuses and profit-sharing for some employees, plus referral bonuses up to $1,000.

Software developer Voonyx Inc., based in Lac-Beauport, Québec, offers new employees four weeks of annual paid vacation allowance, together with paid time-off during the winter holidays and up to four additional company-wide paid days off each year.

Engineering firm CBCL Limited, based in Halifax, allows all employees to share in the company's success through a profit-sharing plan – and offers other financial incentives, including signing bonuses for some employees, year-end bonuses for all employees and referral bonuses of up to $1,000.

Founded in 1992, Mediacorp Canada Inc. is the nation's largest publisher of employment periodicals. Since 1999, the Toronto-based publisher has managed the Canada's Top 100 Employers project, which includes 18 other regional and special-interest editorial competitions that reach over 13 million Canadians annually through a variety of magazine and newspaper partners. Mediacorp also operates Eluta.ca, the largest Canadian job search engine, which includes editorial reviews from the Canada's Top 100 Employers project and is now used by 7 million users in Canada each year. Together with Willis Towers Watson, Mediacorp also hosts the Top Employer Summit, Canada's largest conference for senior-level HR professionals.

More stories from the winners of this year's Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers competition can be found in the special magazine published this morning in The Globe and Mail. The winning employers will be honoured at a special luncheon in Toronto today. The full list of this year's winners is attached; the editors' detailed reasons for selecting each of the winners were released this morning and are accessible via the competition homepage.